Current Projects
TRaCCs dataset project
Our current flagship project aims to develop an aggregate dataset of clinical outcome and service evaluation data from several of our partner clinics.
Experiences of online therapy
Open University
Lorem
Counselling for alopecia
Birmingham Newman/Glasgow Caledonian
Exploring the meaning of quality of life among individuals living with alopecia
Objectives: Alopecia Areata (AA) affects 1 in 1000 people in the UK (Alopecia UK). Numerous standardised questionnaires have been developed to assess quality of life among those living with alopecia. These have been criticised for being restricted in scope, negatively biased, and lacking robust validation. This study explored the lived experience of living with Alopecia using the repertory grid method.
Design: Participants included 8 females living with AA (mean age: 37.57). Repertory Grid analysis was used to explore how individuals interpret their experiences of living with AA. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Ethical approval was received from Birmingham Newman University ethics committee.
Results: Participants reported experiencing social anxiety and feared the reaction of other people; describing a range of negative social experiences including being mistaken for a cancer patient who was receiving chemotherapy, questions about their physical wellbeing, and assumptions being made about their femininity and sexuality. Participants described using a range of methods to manage and disguise their hair loss. In some instances, telling friends and colleagues about their alopecia brought a sense of relief.
Conclusions: Participants described their experience of living with AA as emotionally challenging. Counselling Psychologists can help people with AA to process their experiences and the psychological impact of limited understanding within society. For some participants, the visual representation of their narratives provided by the rep grid methodology was helpful in making sense of their experience.
Outputs
Hogan, K., Holland, M., Higton, C., Lewis, C. (2024) A qualitative exploration of living with Alopecia Areata. Findings presented at the Division of Counselling Psychology Annual Conference, Glasgow. Holland, M., Lewis, C. Higton, C., Hogan, K., (2024) Exploring the meaning of quality of life among individuals living with alopecia: A repertory grid approach. Findings presented at the BACP research conference, Birmingham.
Clients’ Ratings of Helpfulness of Measures: Comparison across Measures and Demographic Characteristics
University of Roehampton
The aim of the present research is to develop an understanding of clients’ ratings of the helpfulness, to themselves, of using process and outcome measures in their therapy. Over the past two decades, routine outcome monitoring (ROM) has been a major new development in psychotherapy, with evidence of positive benefits on outcomes. However, limited evidence is available on clients’ actual experiences of the helpfulness of such measures. The Patient-Perceived Helpfulness of Measure Scale (ppHMS) is a newly-developed 5-item measure that, for the first time, can quantitatively assess clients’ perceptions of the helpfulness of different outcome and process measures. Data will be collected from clinics that are members of the TRACCs consortium. We will collect data on the clinics’ measures (PHQ-9, GAD-7, CORE-10), using the ppHMS, at session 2, 6, and end of therapy. The principal research questions that we will asking, and answering through statistical analysis, will be: (a) Are there differences in clients’ ratings of measure helpfulness across measures? (b) Are there differences in clients’ ratings of measure helpfulness across client characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, mental health issue)? (c) Are there differences in clients’ ratings of measure helpfulness across service and treatment level characteristics (e.g., modality of intervention, orientation of intervention)? (d) What are clients’ absolute ratings of measure helpfulness? Findings from the study will be published in a peer-reviewed international journal and will be usable to guide selection of ROM measures (both generally and for specific client groups), such as to optimise measure contribution to client experiences and outcomes.